I have been studying these seforim and noticed the text is marked with trope. However, since these seforim are not read publically, what is the proper cantillation? Like neviim?
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1I've heard people say the same as neviim and the same as Shir Hashirim/Rus/Koheles. Personally I use the second.– HeshyJun 23, 2019 at 10:04
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@Heshy that sentence may not make sense to non Ashkenazi communities that have different categories. IINM syrians have a different tune for Shir Hashirim from Rut– Double AA ♦Jun 23, 2019 at 11:31
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2Presumably you would have the same question regarding Divrei HaYamim (Chronicles)?– Joel KJun 23, 2019 at 11:38
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1@Joel also the beginning and end of Iyov– Double AA ♦Jun 23, 2019 at 11:43
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Here is Daniel with "3-Megillot" tune youtu.be/kdLDNz-srZQ?t=370– Double AA ♦Aug 7 at 19:02
1 Answer
The Syrian Sephardic tradition reads the taamim of Daniel and Ezra/Nehemia (as well as Job 1-2, Ecclesiates, and Chronicles) in the same melody as Ruth. This is sung in a precious Middle-Eastern scale known as Hoseni, which, among other special occasions, is used by the Syrians for the Torah reading during Shavuot. You can hear a recording of this melody, sung by Hazzan Haim Daya, here.
As a side technical note, this might be a rather challenging melody for those unaccustomed to singing Middle-Eastern music, as Hoseni has contains two quarter-tones not found in Western music.
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Are any quarter-tones found in western scales ? I don't believe so, but I may be mistaken Jun 24, 2019 at 15:46
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To be clear this is different from how Shir Hashirim is sung, correct? (A friend of mine has a theory that Ashkenazim use Shir Hashirim tune for Ruth and Kohelet only because they lost the general Ketuvim prose tune, not because that is Ruth and Kohelets native tune too.)– Double AA ♦Jun 24, 2019 at 15:50
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@NoachMiFrankfurt: no, there aren't any quarter tones in western scales. But some Middle-Eastern scales are identical to scales sung by Ashkenazic communities. Hijaz, for example, is identical to Ahava Rabba, popularly used in Hassidic niggunim (also termed Phrygian dominant).– AryehJun 24, 2019 at 15:51
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@DoubleAA: right, different from Shir Hashirim. The taamim are different, with a scale similar, but not identical, to Ruth.– AryehJun 24, 2019 at 15:54